


Forgetting Is A Blessing

by mygodhatesme



Category: Black Widow (Comics), Marvel (Comics), The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (2015), Winter Soldier (Comics)
Genre: 1960s, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Crossover, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Established Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, Hydra (Marvel), I'm Bad At Tagging, M/M, Major Character Injury, Memory Loss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-14
Updated: 2020-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:42:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23147938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mygodhatesme/pseuds/mygodhatesme
Summary: Natalia Romanova who managed to run away from KGB asks for an old friend working for U.N.C.L.E. to get the Winter Soldier back from Hydra after they get their hands on him to use him for their own agenda.
Relationships: Illya Kuryakin/Napoleon Solo, James "Bucky" Barnes/Natasha Romanov
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	Forgetting Is A Blessing

**Author's Note:**

> hello hello, i’ve been planning to write this for a while because we needed more tmfu fics and as a marvel stan this seemed to be an amazing way to do it
> 
> this is mainly focused on illya rather than the others and i know it’s pretty messy but i tried my best
> 
> unedited, unbeta’d
> 
> i hope you like it

Illya was lost in between the blankets, his body was as warm as it could be but his shivering insisted on staying, his eyes started shutting themselves slowly each passing moment, he resisted to close them. Napoleon was laying behind him, his chin on Illya’s shoulder, his one arm around his waist. Napoleon held Illya very tight, he had one more blanket on himself apart from the ones Illya wrapped himself in, Napoleon was sweating crazy unlike Illya, who was shivering no matter how many blankets he had. Napoleon could hear Illya’s heartbeat and when his eyes were closing at the same moment as Illya, he started feeling Illya’s heartbeat than hearing it. Napoleon didn’t resist his eyes’ shutting motion unlike Illya but still, his eyes closed later than the Russian’s. 

They woke up to a loud knock on the door, Illya noticed it first, he wasn’t a heavy sleeper unless he got too tired. He got out of the blankets and managed to leave the bed without waking Napoleon up. He took fast steps to the door of his hotel room, he looked through the peephole and saw Gaby already dressed in her pretty red dress. He turned his head to the side to look at the clock, he had no idea what time it was, he turned to the door again and opened it. “You should’ve been up already!” Gaby complained, it was 7.30 am and they should’ve already been in the hotel lobby, “Is Napoleon in there?” she continued as she stepped to the side to see the bed, Napoleon was still laying and it was obvious Gaby’s voice woke him up. “You two, get ready, now!” she said, being the boss as always, Napoleon got out of bed and went in the bathroom as Gaby sat down on the sofa. 

Illya was still on his feet, looking at Gaby, he was barely awake and definitely needed a shower. “Good morning to you too.” Illya said, his accent was heavier when he woke up, Gaby looked at him and smiled “You can tell that to Waverly because you guys are late and he hates waiting.” Gaby said, her eyes met bathroom door Napoleon just opened, his eyes met Gaby’s and he turned his eyes to Illya immediately, “Peril, you should get ready too.” he said and walked towards Gaby as Illya moved himself to the bathroom. “I’m gonna go to my room and get down to the lobby, I’ll meet you there.” he said, put on his suit from yesterday on and went to his room.

Gaby sat there, read some of the yesterday's newspapers, waited for Illya. Illya left the bathroom with a bathrobe, his hair was wet, he always dried it before leaving the bathroom but guess that day was different. “Where’s Napoleon?” Illya asked, Gaby turned to her back to face Illya, “He’s getting dressed as you should too.” Gaby said, Illya turned to the closet and approached to it, “I’ll be here!” Gaby called as the closing sound of the closet door filled the room. Illya was never quick with dressing, he didn’t care about his looks as much as Napoleon did but he liked to dress well and he had a lot of options to choose from even when they’re on the road. 

Illya dressed himself quick and got back to Gaby, “Let’s go.” he said, his accent was lighter this time, that meant he was fully awake and wasn’t close to falling asleep anytime. Gaby got on his feet, grabbed the hand Illya showed him and they left the room. They always were affectionate, they’d already had a few missions they had to act like a couple and Illya’s homosexuality had to stay hidden. They stood silent for the whole way to the lobby, both of them had no idea what Waverly was going to say because they were supposed to be on a break for two days while they were in Nice. 

They got to the lobby and directly saw Waverly talking to Napoleon, Waverly seemed to be a little nervous and that wasn’t a good sign. “Good morning Sir.” Illya said, Waverly smiled, “Good morning, Kuryakin.” he said, “Good morning to you too, Teller.” he continued. “You are late.” Waverly looked at Napoleon who had no shame in being late. Waverly started walking towards the exit, the agents shared a look and followed their director. There was a fancy car waiting outside, they got in the car, Waverly was sitting on the front seat and there was a driver as well, they didn’t know him but he looked tough, it was obvious the driver was there for a reason. 

“Agents,” Waverly began without looking behind him, “We’re on our way to one of our safe houses in this area, you’ll be briefed about you mission there.” he said, Illya could see him smile from his reflection on the front window, “Now, enjoy the music.” Waverly opened the radio’s volume up, they were more confused and needed answers immediately. They sat close to each other at the back of the car, Gaby was sitting in the middle and all she could think was that she would fly to the front if there was an accident because the car was going quite fast, it was fast even for her. Napoleon and Illya were looking outside the window, watching the trees pass beside them and leaving the beach behind, they didn’t have a single thing in their mind, they were both focused on their surroundings. 

Waverly said “Look left.”, all of them turned their heads to left, they passed an empty patisserie,they saw the waitresses getting ready to open the shop for the day. “This patisserie is owned by Frank Russo,” Napoleon interrupted him, “Isn’t he a senator? Senator of Ohio if I’m not wrong?” Waverly finally turned to them, “You’re right Solo.” they more more confused than ever. “Good lord! You look like you need more information, wait until we get to the safe house.” he turned himself back to the road. The next 5 minutes of the ride passed with the looks Napoleon, Illya and Gaby gave each other. 

Waverly said, “Look left.” and everyone turned to left, this was getting annoying for all of them, especially for Illya, he hated the mystery. “This bar is also owned by Frank Russo.” he said, “What’s going on? Are we now working against the United States?” Napoleon said, Illya threw him a look Napoleon’s never seen, he had no idea what he wanted to say with that look. “No Solo, the opposite.” Waverly said, Napoleon moved to the edge of the seat, he looked at Gaby and Illya, “I get this might be extremely confidential but you just can’t give us small bits of information and nothing more.” he raised his voice, Gaby and Illya agreed but they stood silent, they both wanted to hear what Napoleon was going to say.

“Relax, Solo, you’ll be informed.” Waverly said and looked left, “In a few minutes.” the car stopped, the driver got out and opened the door for the agents in the back, then opened the trunk. Gaby, Illya and Napoleon got out, got their bags out and faced the little house with a front garden filled with red roses flowers. “This is the safe house?” Illya asked, the house looked like everything but a safe house, it was obvious someone lived in there, the flowers looked recently watered, they also saw that there was a name written on the door bell, this wasn’t just a safe house, someone actually lived there full time.

Illya turned around to Waverly who was getting out of the car, “Why are we here?” he asked, “I knew you would recognise the name.” Waverly put his chin up and took fast steps to the door, rang the bell. Gaby was holding Illya’s hand again, Illya’s hands were sweating, he was everything but calm, that name reminded him something but Gaby had no idea what. Napoleon was watching Illya, the way he grabbed Gaby’s hand was unusual, he never held it that tight, he was obviously nervous. 

The door opened, a thin tall woman was standing before them, she stepped aside, Waverly went through the door first, then Gaby and Illya, Napoleon noticed the woman smiled big to Illya. His first thought was that Illya knew this woman, he looked at the name on the doorbell, she was clearly Russian, Napoleon wanted to terribly know why she was included in the mission. Napoleon stepped in the last, the woman put a little smirk on her face as the American stepped in. She shut the door behind Napoleon as he made his way to the living room. 

The inside of the house was decorated simply, mostly white and black were used but there were also soft reds, Napoleon thought there was probably some reason behind the colors. Waverly sat on the black couch, Gaby sat next to him and Illya was right beside the window looking outside from the gap between two white curtains. Illya seemed very suspicious, he was still nervous, his hands were shaking but he wasn’t trying to hide them as he usually did. Napoleon stood at the edge of the doorstep to the living room, the woman stood on her feet, resting her back on the empty wall.

Waverly looked at all of them separately, then began, “This is Natalia Romanova.” hearing the name made Illya more uncomfortable, all Napoleon did was watching him, Gaby was looking around in confusion, “The Black Widow” Waverly continued, “Not anymore.” the woman smiled and said, Illya clenched his jaw. Napoleon wanted to go next to him, hold his hand but it wasn’t a choice at that moment, it was exactly the opposite of appropriate. He felt like Illya needed support, he was about to took a step but his gaze met Ms. Romanova’s, he turned his eyes on Illya who was looking directly at Napoleon at that exact moment, he was asking for support but he knew that it wasn’t possible as much as Napoleon did.

“Agents, this won’t be a simple mission, please listen carefully.” Waverly said as he got up and made his way next to Ms. Romanova, “For your information, I’m no longer a part of KGB.” she said, her eyes were talking Illya’s, he tried hard to not look at her. “How did you leave?” Illya said forcing himself to maintain a still voice, “I didn’t leave, I ran away.” Ms. Romanova’s accent slightly showed itself at the end of the sentence. Illya looked confused and terrified, Napoleon had a question and he felt like it was the right time to ask that, “What does Frank Russo have to do with all this?” his voice was pierced through the silent in the room. 

“He’s a target.” Ms. Romanova answered plainly, “Is KGB behind this?” Illya asked, he looked frightened and was unable to keep himself calm, “Hydra.” Ms. Romanova continued with simple answers, no details, “How Russian!” Napoleon thought immediately. “What’s Hydra?” Gaby broke her silence, “I thought they were a myth.” Illya said without actually answering the question, Ms. Romanova said “I never thought you would be that naive Ilyushka.” with a slight sarcasm coming after her words. “Don’t call me that!” Illya shouted, his eyes grew big, his hands were more sweaty and he was pushing his nails into his skin. Napoleon approached to Illya, he couldn’t just watch it all, he didn’t touch Illya but he knew even standing beside him was a win for both of them. 

“I have no idea what’s going on but I need a lot of explanation.” Gaby said, softly and calmly, as usual. “Frank Russo is targeted by Hydra, we don’t know why yet but we need to learn.” Waverly said, feeling left out in this whole mess, “We also need to get a friend of ours from Hydra.” Ms. Romanova said, Napoleon turned his head to Illya to see his expression. Illya looked terrified, but he also looked surprised and Napoleon could see that something was familiar to Illya, it wasn’t Ms. Romanova but whatever it is definitely scared him. Gaby turned around to look at Napoleon, she just looked confused, “Can someone please enlighten me?” Gaby said before turning back again in a single motion. 

Ms. Romanova was about to speak but Waverly interrupted her, he looked at his watch, “I need to be somewhere else in 10 minutes, you can trust Ms. Romanova.” he said and he left in a rush. Illya chuckled, his tension just went away and he laughed loud, Napoleon didn’t understand what was happening, “Trust?” Illya’s eyes filled with tears, neither Napoleon or Gaby had an idea what was happening. He didn’t seem like Illya to both of them, this was new to them. “You know I had to.” Ms. Romanova said, “Why did you even came to U.N.C.L.E. for this? You could’ve done it all by yourself.” his accent got thicker and thicker with each syllable. Napoleon wanted to do something, Gaby wanted to say something but this was nothing like they’ve seen of Illya. 

“Because of you Illya.” Illya held his breath, he closed his eyes, Ms. Romanova started walking towards them but Napoleon got on her way, stood right in front of her, “You must be the protective boyfriend.” she said with a straight face, the corner of her lips twirled into a smirk, “But he needs no protection.” Napoleon’s eyes grew, he saw Gaby looking at them, she could feel the tension too. “Cowboy,” Napoleon heard Illya whisper, “It’s okay.” Napoleon took a deep breath, turned to Illya and looked him in the eye, he nodded slowly while keeping his blue eyes on Napoleon’s which made him stepped aside. 

“First, tell me how you ran away.” Illya’s accent sounded as thick as it was moments ago, “They thought they found a Black Widow better than me and I took advantage of it.” Ms. Romanova said, Napoleon realised that she had no slight of a Russian accent in her tone and she seemed to be careful with using only English while Gaby and him were there. Napoleon knew 2 Russians couldn’t stay in a room together for longer than 5 minutes before they started speaking Russian and these two were Russian agents. Illya reached for Napoleon’s hand as Napoleon was drifted in between his thoughts, the only time they held hands were while they were all by themselves, this meant that he had a little bit of trust left for Ms. Romanova. 

Illya stood silent, Napoleon knew what it meant and he also knew the red head standing before him did too. “Is that friend, The Soldier?” Illya asked, his accent was still there, it was even heavier than the way he talked when he first woke up, she nodded as an answer to his question. Napoleon and Gaby had so much to learn about Illya and Ms. Romanova, “I want to sit down.” Illya said, stepped front and didn’t let go of Napoleon’s hand, he pulled him to himself, he made him sat next to him on the sofa. Gaby, Napoleon and Illya were sitting on the sofa together, had Ms. Romanova right in front of them. “Ms. Romanova,” Napoleon began, “Natalia, please” she interrupted him. Napoleon understood that she meant it when she wanted him to call her with her first name, when Illya gave him that accepting look. 

“Do you remember him?” Natalia asked looking at Illya like they were the only ones in the room, “Barely but I don’t want to remember.” Illya’s words clear, Natalia smiled, “You were never scared of him, not even scared of his capabilities.” she said hoping Illya would remember things without actually saying them outloud. “I just know the name and his arm. I remember he helped me get up from the ground after,” he gasped. Gaby and Napoleon stared at each other, when they turned their eyes back to Natalia, they saw Illya cry. Napoleon saw him cry once, it was when he miraculously survived a bombing during a mission, he remembered Illya hugging him tighter than ever, it was their most intimate moment emotionally. 

“They messed with your head too.” Natalia said, her eyes looked sad, “What about I brief you all about the mission, then we’ll get into the details.” she looked first at Gaby then at Napoleon. Illya reached for Napoleon’s hand to hold it, Napoleon knew that Natalia wouldn’t make it a problem. Illya held his hand tight, Napoleon did too, everything about that day felt wrong but it seemed important for Natalia and Illya’s reaction made it clear. “We believe that they will send the Soldier to assassinate Mr. Russo, he’s literally impossible to catch but I trust Illya on that.” she finished her words but seemed like she was going to continue, Illya didn’t give the chance to, “I thought you only trusted him.” he said and Napoleon immediately understood he was talking about the Soldier, this wasn’t actually about Frank Russo. 

“That bar, I believe Waverly told you about, Mr. Russo is in Nice right now and he’ll be at the bar tonight at 8 pm as he always does.” Natalia continued, “He has a string of male lovers in Nice, let’s say he hates his wife.” she said. “Are you sure?” Napoleon asked, “I never thought a political figure would be.” he stopped which made Natalia smile, “Says the one with a boyfriend.” she giggled but her serious impression wasn’t gone for good, her face changed immediately and she looked like her next words would not be something to cut the tension in the room. 

“I want you to seduce him.” she looked at Illya, “No!” he shouted, “Come on Ilyushka, your sexuality was known even in your training.” Illya hated this, he hated it all. “How did I survive and became their best agent then?” Illya asked, “You‘ve always been their best, especially after that.” Natalia said nothing made sense for Gaby or Napoleon but he was good with guessing. “You know it was forbidden to speak, about anything.” she spoke clearly and said her words by one by out loud. “I know you’re slowly starting to remember but it’s okay, you’re not alone.” she continued, Illya kept his silence, “I can seduce him, I’m good with using my charm.” Napoleon said, he knew Illya wasn’t going to like that but it had to be done. Illya nodded giving the message that he doesn’t mind to Napoleon.

“Illya, you know how to stop him from disappearing into thin air, he might not be our James now but we can get him back and also not let him get back to the hands of KGB.” Natalia spoke really fast this time like she was in an extreme rush. “Solo, you’ll keep Mr. Russo busy, Gaby you’re on watch duty and Illya, be the Illya he knows” to Gaby and Napoleon, her words to Illya meant nothing, but to him, it was her cry for help. Illya was the one besides Natalia who cared about the Soldier and the Soldier cared back, to some extent. Illya was going to do it, call him his birth name and stop him from disappearing once again but he had questions, Hydra was a science unit so they knew how to mess with heads better than the KGB, Illya remembered that and remembered that he knew Hydra wasn’t just a myth. 

He didn’t have much faith in this mission and especially thought he wouldn’t be able to stop the Soldier before he killed Mr. Russo, he didn’t want to do it either, his lost memories scared him even though he didn’t remembered them vividly, he didn't remember much of the thing Natalia kept mentioning as “that” but when he tried to remember, his body hurt and it was enough for him to not want any of this. He remembered the Soldier though, maybe not his time spent with him but his eyes, his eyes were more blue than Illya’s and he remembered what he felt when he looked him in the eye, he felt safe, he felt safe with the Soldier. 

Natalia felt like nobody wanted to hear more about the mission but it was also obvious to her that she would have to talk to Illya about his lost memories of the Soldier if it was the end of the conversation about the mission. The tension in the room was slowly fading but there was an awkward silence. Natalia wanted Illya to remember, he needed to remember or all of this wouldn’t work out. “Would you like some breakfast?” Natalia asked looking at the silent Gaby, wishing her to agree so they could have a conversation apart from the mission. Gaby seemed to get the message and told that she’s hungry. Everyone moved to the kitchen which had a little table somehow everyone was able to get a seat. Natalia took out fruits and cereal, as Napoleon poured his cereal to the bowl Natalia started speaking. 

“You need to remember Illya.” Illya knew she would try to give him his memories of the Soldier, “I know.” he mumbled which followed a look from Napoleon telling him to take this seriously. “You may need to make him remember you and that won’t work if you don’t remember” Natalia continued while still working on the coffee, her back was turned to the others but Illya knew what kind of look she had on her face. “Do you remember the day, he protected you for the first time.” Natalia said, turning her face to the table, “Kind of.” Illya spoke quietly, “Do you remember what you did that scares you this much?” she continued without giving any specific details. “I remember having his head between my legs.” Illya said, his voice cracked, his memories were showing themselves slowly, “I killed him didn’t I?” Illya said after a grasp, Natalia licked her lips and nodded. 

Illya’s eyes teared up, he was holding himself, he didn’t want the tears to leave his eyes, not now. “Illya.” Napoleon said, reaching for his hand, Illya grabbed his hand tight, his hands started trembling, his body got tense, everyone in the kitchen knew what would come next. “Please.” Napoleon whispered in Illya’s ear, Illya turned his face to his lover, his blue eyes met Napoleon’s, his eyes were filled with fear. “The Soldier, James, he took care of me, calmed me, I can’t remember all the times I was by his side but I can feel it.” Illya said, his words came out by one, carefully, “I felt,” he stopped and swallowed, “Safe.”. Natalia approached to Illya, put her hand on his shoulder, “Illyushka, he needs you.” she said, Illya turned to her, he was trying to keep himself at still and not lose himself. “I want to leave, go back to the hotel.” Illya said, Napoleon and Gaby shared a look, they didn’t think that was a good idea. 

“Why don’t we stay here so Ms. Romanova can tell us how they got him.” Gaby said, she tried the cut the tension which seemed hard at that moment. Natalia took the empty seat, “It was after I left, he got him after a training session he had with the newest group of agents.” she tried to speak clearly, “Do you think I will be able to stop him?” Illya asked, sounded really concerned. Natalia nodded, no words came out of her mouth. “I want to leave, I need to get myself together.” Illya said, before anyone said anything Gaby opened her mouth to speak, “Will you be with us tonight Natalia?” the Russian smiled, “Not until after you get the Soldier.” she seemed to believe that the mission will be successful, “What about if we don’t get him?” Napoleon had to ask and it was only one of his questions to Natalia. 

“We’ll see what we can do later if that’s the case.” Natalia said, keeping a still voice, “Can we leave?” Illya looked at Napoleon, basically begging. “Yes.” he said without even looking at Gaby or Natalia, they seemed to not like that idea and couldn’t tell why Napoleon supported that idea after he clearly seemed like he didn’t approve of Illya’s wish. “8 pm is too far away, we can go to the hotel and kill some time, Peril here needs that.” Napoleon said, hoping the women won’t oppose to that. “Do as you wish.” Natalia said, Gaby seemed surprised that she didn’t say anything to stop them. 

The agents of U.N.C.L.E. left Natalia’s house in ten minutes to go to the hotel, Waverly’s car was still waiting for them in case. They went to the hotel as fast as they could, Gaby decided to give them some alone time, it seemed like the right thing to do. Napoleon and Illya went to Illya’s room, it was the best option. Illya poured himself a glass of scotch, “It’s not even noon.” Napoleon said, no matter what the situation was morning drinking was never a good sign. “Can you please not drink.” Napoleon said as Illya was taking a big sip from his glass of scotch. “I need this Cowboy, don’t try to stop me.” he said slowly, Napoleon took a deep breath and closed his eyes while shaking his head, he did not approve this at all. Illya sat on one of the couches in the middle of the room, Napoleon moved to sit next to him, they shared a look, Illya’s eyes were still filled with fear and it scared Napoleon as well. 

Illya put the glass on the table before him, Napoleon reached for it making Illya give him another look, “Don’t drink my scotch!” Illya said but it definitely didn’t stop Napoleon, “Oh, Peril, you know if one of us drink the other one does too.” he said before pushing his lips together. “This is not one of our dinner dates.” Illya said, realising he mentioned their usual after mission dinners as ‘dinner dates’ for the first time, it was what they were but of course they needed to seem not as that. Napoleon finished the scotch with a single sip, Illya didn’t like it, “You’re not gonna drink, neither will I.” the American was clear with hiswish, Illya bit his lip with anger. “You look like you need a cuddle.” Napoleon said with a shy smile, Illya shaked his head, “Not now.” but Napoleon knew this was a good time to, “Yes now.” he said. He pushed Illya on his side, ‘’I don’t want to lie down with my suit on.’’ that sentence activated a little sadness in Napoleon since it was getting more obvious the Russian wasn’t having his best day. “Come on Peril, I know you need it.” his lips curled a bit with a little angst behind them, “Besides, you have more suits in the closet, you can change later.” Illya licked his lips as he took a deep breath, his face gave up the questions and anxiety in his head. 

“Okay.” Illya said quietly, laid down on his side, let Napoleon hold him from behind, he put his chin on his shoulder, neither of them spoke, the room was silent and they both had nothing to say. Napoleon had as much questions as Illya did, seeing him like this killed him slowly and he had no idea what to say or do. “I start to remember it all slowly.” Illya was the one to break the silence unlike Napoleon thought, “After remembering everything, it scares me more.” he was trying to get his breathing steady, Napoleon pushed himself on him more. “I wanna tell you about that day.” Napoleon immediately understood what day he was talking about, he didn’t say anything, waited for Illya to continue. “The trainings were intense, we were trained to kill, I never felt capable of that.” he took a deep breath, his voice cracked as he tried to continue. “You don’t have to tell me.” Napoleon said but Illya was persistent to tell it all, “I want to.” he said slowly and took another deep breath. “It was just another usual fight, he was tough one, tougher than I am, at that moment I knew if I didn’t do it, he would kill me because it wouldn’t be his first time to do so.” word by word his body relaxed a bit, like he was relieved to tell it all. “Oh Illya.” Napoleon let the words fall out of his lips, “We’ve all seen him kill in training, other guys did the same but I didn’t, they probably thought I wasn't good enough and that was a test.” Napoleon sighed, “After that, my anger issues got worse, I was more angry than ever to myself, to my dad, to everyone left a mark on me.” he stopped, “Your anger made you their best agent.” Napoleon said, remembering the first time he met Illya, he didn’t let anyone in his mind and he was always furious. 

“The Soldier helped me to use my anger to be the best, never killed anyone in a training after that but my attitude changed so much that they started to be scared of me, The Soldier’s support on me also made them scared.” Napoleon whispered “I love you” very silently hoping he wouldn’t hear, he just needed to say that even though he didn’t want Illya to hear. “I guess they wiped my after I was done with my training, they made me believe I became the best on my own which was totally wrong.” his voice didn’t crack once, Napoleon understood he actually needed to tell it all, especially to his partner. “The problem is I have no idea how to break The Soldier, I have no idea how to catch him and make him remember on top of that.” Napoleon could still hear his fear behind his words but didn’t say anything. “You know how he kills right?” Napoleon asked, he switched to talking about the mission instead of the past, he felt like that was what needed. “Yes I do.” Illya threw his head back to see a little of Napoleon, “Use that, show him you know him instead of telling.” Illya waa confused, he didn’t think that would work, “You’re going to ask me if that’ll work, I can read you mind.” he chuckled a bit, Illya nodded, “Honestly, I don’t know, but still, you can try.” he continued and Illya let out a breath. 

After that, the silence captured the room again, Napoleon moved the hand he has on his side to Illya’s hair, he knew Illya relaxed when someone played with his hair. He touched his hair slowly, feeling his soft blonde strands between his fingers. Napoleon let his head fall back to the pillow on the couch, let Illya relax more as he took the pressure of his chin from his shoulder, kept playing with Illya’s hair. Time passed fast for Napoleon, Illya fell asleep in his arms, Napoleon never saw Illya sleep during the day, he had trouble sleeping even at night, he guessed Illya needed to take his mind off everything that was about to happen, the fact that Napoleon played with his hair probably made him slip into sleep a little easier. Napoleon whispered “I love you.” a little louder than before just to check if Illya was sleeping, he didn’t react so Napoleon tried to get up from the couch without waking Illya up. Illya stretched himself back to where Napoleon was the moment he managed to get up. 

Napoleon walked slowly to the balcony, the sun was on top, middle of the day, it feel weird seeing Illya sleep at this hour, he also seemed like he was sleeping well, he couldn’t sleep this well at most nights. He lit a cigarette, he hasn’t smoked in ages, he didn’t even like to smoke but at that moment, it seemed like it was appropriate. His lover was lost, between his new coming memories and the wall he builded over that memories he didn’t even remember. Napoleon didn’t feel sorry for Illya, he just couldn’t, what he felt for him in this situation was something different, he didn’t know how to explain it. He wanted to hold him forever, just never let him fear again, he wished both of them could leave this all behind but it was not even a possibility, they were both told that they were born to be spies, neither of them believed it was true though. 

He rested his back on the parapet of the balcony, his gaze rested on Illya behind the glass door opening back to the room. His mind was empty for the whole time, didn’t know what to think about, his eyes stood on Illya, adoring him from far. He turned his back to the glass and stared at the city, the room had a view of the sea, everything in his eyesight looked stunning, his thoughts started to capture him as he laid his eyes on the beach. He wondered how he could help Illya, he could ask Gaby, take her opinion, she’s always been the wise one in three of them or try to figure it out on his own. They only had a couple of hours to develop this mission’s details and plan to close to perfect so they could actually save Mr. Russo and get the Soldier but they had to wait until the Peril wakes up. Napoleon’s mind was hooked on Illya and how well he could do in this mission under the influence of his new memories and emotional vulnerability, he hoped it would go well, he didn’t even care if they managed to save Mr. Russo or not, all he cared was to know more about the Soldier and how Illya could get him.

Napoleon put his cigarette out on the parapted, turned to the glass, stood still for a moment to debate by himself to go back inside or not before deciding to go in. The silence giving the room a feeling like it’s empty got cut when Napoleon called Gaby’s room hoping she would be in. Thankfully she was, “Gaby, would you come over for a second?” Napoleon sounded too kind for his usual self, the usual wittiness in his voice couldn’t be heard in those words, “Is everything alright?” Napoleon heard the German one asking on the other side of the phone, she could tell that Napoleon was feeling something he’s never felt before, that meant he wasn’t able to hide it. “No, I just need to talk about Illya.” he said, Gaby was quick to say something back, “I’ll be right there.” Gaby ended the call and didn’t give Napoleon to say anything more. 

Gaby showed up in front of the door in a few minutes as she stated, Napoleon opened the door, Gaby’s face radiated a look of surprise as she saw Illya sleeping, actually sleeping peacefully. “He is having a really hard day.” Napoleon said, Gaby nodded slowly, the muscles in her face relaxed, she seemed heartbroken. “I can see that.” she turned her eyes to the American, “The time passes really slowly today.” she continued, “I want this day to be over already.” Napoleon said to finish her words. “Do you think he can manage it?” Napoleon said, he never doubted Illya but this was different and very scary, “Yes but it’s probably because I can’t even stand to think about the possibility of him not being able to.” Gaby said softly, Illya turned to the other side on the couch, Napoleon walked to the couch and sat on the corner where Illya’s feet were, Gaby sat on the coffee table, she still had her heels from the morning on and standing gave her pain. 

“We need to make sure he believes that he could do it.” Napoleon said, looking at Illya’s face and smiling with a hidden pain behind it. “What will you do?” Gaby asked, Napoleon didn’t understand what she was asking, “About Mr. Russo.” she continued and Napoleon’s impression changed to a bit of confusion. “The Soldier will harm you too if you’re with him.” Gaby was right and the reality of that just hit Napoleon, “Maybe knowing that will give Napoleon another reason to succeed.” Gaby said, Napoleon was Illya’s soft spot as everyone knew. “But it can also scare him more.” Napoleon said, Gaby could understand his concerns on that but they still needed a way to get Illya’s motivation up. “Have you checked the time?” Gaby asked, assuming both of the men isolated themselves for past hours, Napoleon shook his head, Gaby checked the clock on the wall, “It’s close to 3pm” she said, Napoleon felt like 10 minutes passed but it was close to 3 hours since they got back to the hotel. “You didn’t notice how much time has passed.” Gaby said, Napoleon nodded, they saw Illya turn to his other side, “Have you had lunch?” Gaby asked, “No, you?” Napoleon assumed she asked because she hasn’t. “Me neither, let’s order room service.” she said, gave a look on Illya, “Maybe wake him up so we can all eat something.” she said, “He sleeps so peacefully, I don’t want to wake him up.” the American said, Gaby agreed but she was starving and she thought the men would be too. 

“Are we going to wait until he’s awake?” Gaby asked, she wanted to keep herself and the others busy so the time could pass faster. “Yes.” Napoleon answered simply, he was feeling numb, he wanted to grab Illya and run away from this mission but it wasn’t even a possibility. He still had his eyes on Illya, watching him sleep and all he could think about was him, his selfish self was disappearing because of the Russian even though he hated to admit. “We should at least order some coffee.” Gaby said softly, she hated this silence and stillness in the room, the room felt dead and this almost never happened when Napoleon was there. “Alright, order some coffee.” Napoleon said, he sounded pretty upset but Gaby couldn’t tell if she should try to get his mood a bit higher. They ordered coffee and the door of the room was knocked in about 15 minutes, both of them moved to the door, didn’t let the room service guy get in and by the time they closed the door they saw Illya sit on the couch. “What time is it?” Illya asked, again his accent was quite hard since he just woke up. Napoleon checked his watch he forgot he was wearing, “Almost 5pm.” he said, “You seemed like you slept well.” Gaby said and Illya nodded. 

Gaby and Napoleon drank their coffee slowly, then they ordered some soup and steak to the room, they were all hungry and nobody talked as they ate. There was a unnecessary tension in between the three, “I hate the silence.” Gaby said, she was right but it didn’t matter to the men. “I’m gonna handle Mr. Russo as we spoke, I’m sure he’ll enjoy my company.” Napoleon said forcing himself to some kind of conversation as an answer to Gaby’s words. “I think I’m sure that I can handle the Soldier.” Illya said looking straight at Napoleon, Gaby felt a bit left out but she understood why. “I need to talk to Natalia.” Illya said, “I don’t think we can contact her now” Gaby said, it wouldn’t be secure to do so, “What about Waverly?” Napoleon asked and Illya shot a judging stare at him. “No, he’s not capable of answering my really detailed questions.” Illya said, turning his vision to the balcony. “Peril, all we can do is to wait.” Napoleon said slowly, he sounded like he didn’t really believe in those words. 

“You should go to the bar early, spend some time, have a few drinks.” Gaby said, looking at Napoleon directly, he knew he should do that already but Gaby needed to say something, literally anything. Napoleon just nodded, Illya was still watching the view from where he sat. They finished eating and the room was still silent, nobody had a thing to say, Gaby was only nervous because Illya and Napoleon was, this was probably going to be hardest mission for all of them just because of the personal connection to Illya. Gaby later turned on the radio, the silence got filled with French lyrics, Illya rested his head on the back of the couch he was sitting on, Gaby and Napoleon were on their feet dancing just to release themselves from all the feelings that captured them. Time seemed to pass quicker when all of them were together, even though Illya did nothing but to sit, time passed quick even for him. 

It was almost 6pm when Napoleon left for his room to change, Gaby and Illya sat alone in Illya’s room, the haven’t shared a room in a long time but it’s because Napoleon was always in Illya’s room, it was weird for both of them at first because they got used to sharing a room and having no alone time. ‘’Have you gotten used to laying all alone on a double bed?’’ Gaby asked, she was talking with a soft voice and had a slight joyful tune, ‘’I haven’t got to sleep alone yet.’’ Illya said, Gaby knew this was coming, she already knew Napoleon and Illya never spent a night by themselves anymore, Gaby used to feel a little left out but then she got over it when she realised this was something wonderful to them, to being able to commit without having to explain complications of their job but of course being sexually and romantically involved with the same sex was putting both in a different kind of danger, especially the Russian. After a few minutes of small talk on not sharing a room, Gaby left for her room and left Illya all alone, she didn’t think it was a wise decision but he still needed some space after all that.

Illya got in the shower once again, let the water run all over his body, listening the water fall to the ground, he was keeping his eyes on his body, touching the bruises and old scars on his body, he was thinking about how failing this mission wasn’t a choice for him, he didn’t care about the actual mission, all he cared was the Soldier and his memories of him supported that. He spent a lot of time in the shower, more than usual, he just stood under the water and did nothing, his body relaxed with the warm water on top of him slowly gaining a part of his confidence and hope back. He carefully stepped out of the shower, left the bathroom with a towel around his waist, walked to the balcony, watched the sunset, the sky going from blue to black one second at a time, the sun was right in the middle as he stepped on the marble floor of his balcony. He didn’t bother to check the time, he knew both Gaby and Napoleon would come to pick him up. He went back inside as it got darker and the sky exchanged its redness with a light shade of brown. He dressed rather quickly, poured himself a new drink and poured the one from the morning in the toilet, ‘’One sip at a time, no drinking it all in one sip.’’ he told himself, he promised himself that it would be the last drink he has until the mission is successful. He turned the radio on, the silence normally calmed him but that was no ordinary day. 

He heard a knock on the door and assumed it was Napoleon or Gaby but when he looked in the peephole, he saw Natalia standing there like it was nothing, he debated if he should open or not for a minute, ended up opening it. ‘’What are you doing here?’’ Illya aggressively asked in Russian, they were alone in the room so speaking English was totally unnecessary, he spoke louder as the door closed behind the woman, ‘’Just came to check up on you.’’ she said, keeping her distance, she sounded genuine but of course, she was a Black Widow and Illya knew she wasn’t the ideal person to trust, the twist was that they both trusted each other and Natalia looked after Illya at certain times, he had to keep his trust in order to make this work. Natalia had always been good with reading impressions, she figured out that Illya didn’t mind her being here unlike the way he reacted and stepped inside. “I actually wanted to contact you, it isn’t safe, I need to know why you came here since you standing before me is a huge risk.’’ Illya spoke word by word, he realised he hasn’t had a decent conversion in Russian in months, he was losing his connection to the Motherland slowly but he couldn’t care less. “I just wanted to tell you that you could do this, you’re the only one that could do that.’’ she said, Illya heard those words a lot in the past hours but they were hitting him slowly, he still felt lost but a part of him was trying to know how he can use the fact that he was lost to his and the mission’s sake. 

It was obvious Natalia was only to encourage him and definitely was going to disappear as she expressed everything she wanted to in words, ‘’I know, I’m gonna do my best but you should still have doubts, I don’t have the trust in myself you have.’’ Illya said, Natalia always avoided physical contact but she stepped forward to hug him, it was new for Illya, hugging someone from his past when he was just starting open himself to direct contact. ‘’I’m gonna leave now, stay safe.’’ she grabbed the door knob, ‘’And look after the ones you love even though they might not need it.’’ Illya saw Natalia’s emotions behind her eyes for the first time, his immediate thought was that he shouldn’t doubt her honesty related to this mission. Natalia left the room, he looked around, the clock was ticking fast and just in a few moments the door was knocked once again but this time it was Gaby accompanied by Napoleon, so he opened the door. 

‘’You ready Peril?’’ Napoleon asked, he seemed to be cheered up a bit, released a bit of the tension and Napoleon assumed Illya did too, he wasn’t wrong, the Russian was feeling a little better. Illya nodded, left the room without the others got a chance to step in, Gaby held onto Illya’s arm. Those three look undefeatable from outside as they walked side by side on the corridor. They got in the elevator, the soft music playing always annoyed Illya but not at that moment. Illya’s day was filled with exceptions like how unusual was him sleeping during the day or how the stuff normally annoyed him didn’t, none of them could tell but it wasn’t really important either. Napoleon left as he took his first step out of the elevator to get to the bar already, Gaby and Illya had dinner at a nice little restaurant in one of the streets at the back of the hotel. They were all scheduled to start action at 8pm exactly, at that time they were all ready, Gaby walking around the block, Illya on the roof of the building across the bar and Napoleon was enjoying a expensive glass of scotch. 

A car stopped in front of the bar as Gaby was walking slowly on the opposite side of the street, Illya was nowhere to be seen, Gaby checked if he could be seen from the ground, he was up there so the Soldier could spot him quick. Napoleon was his usual very flirtatious self, calm but also really cool so it didn’t take him long to get Mr. Russo’s attention. The Senator asked him to be his company for the night, Mr. Russo noticing that he was another American gave him a bit of anxiety, he wasn’t sure if the Senator knew about U.N.C.L.E. but it flew off of him quick. His conversation with this man evolved quickly into a less serious one the moment they started talking about America, Napoleon was really good at acting like any average American thinking that world only exists for them. Napoleon kept his conversation going with the Senator but had no idea what was going on other than his part of this mission. As moments passed, Napoleon felt like something was wrong, he was good with his instincts and that instinct was about to capture him, he was getting anxious for no reason, this missio generally had that effect on him but it was becoming distracting and he was having a hard time focusing on Mr. Russo. 

He looked at the window on his left, saw a dark silhouette, he knew shit was gonna go down, his part of the mission was to make sure Mr. Russo was safe, he knew he shouldn’t be trusting his one bodyguard on that, he would probably the first one killed by the Soldier rather than Mr. Russo but what Napoleon didn’t know was the Soldier never missed and never took chances, he could be the one as well. Napoleon had a simple plan, refuse if the Senator wants to go home, be with him at all times until Gaby is around to give him clearance. Napoleon’s thought was that Soldier wouldn’t be able to kill since they were sitting at the back of the bar, the windows were away but not that far away, there was still a chance, not certain though. The conversation continued, it was a lot of talk, a lot of uncomfortable flirting for Napoleon. He was trying to keep calm and he was to some extent, no problems so far but he was sure it wouldn’t stay that way. He saw Gaby behind the window, raising her eyebrows, shaking her head as she was telling him to stay there. 

Gaby tilted her head to the rood Illya was on, a few minutes ago, a part of him could be seen but not anymore, she couldn’t stop wondering what was going on but had to keep herself out of Illya’s business to keep things go on their way. Illya however wasn’t in panic as he thought he would be, he was hiding himself well before he spotted the Soldier hiding well as well, he had goggles on so he couldn’t tell if he spotted Illya as he did. He started running towards him, he could only get him to listen him on hand to hand combat, the fact that he was trained by the Soldier gave him a higher chance at that. Illya ran fast, even faster than a car in times, the Soldier spotted him and got himself on the move, Illya wasn’t going to let go of him. They were both running on roofs of all buildings in line, jumping from there to another. Illya got really close to him, close enough to kick him, the Soldier stumbled, he didn’t wait a second to kick him once more and more until he was on the ground. Illya had times that he never believed himself that he could compete with the Soldier even when he knew him as James, unlike everyone he trained, Illya was special, different from others. His feelings disappeared as he got on the move to get the Soldier, his concerns no longer existed. 

Illya was quick enough to stand on top of him, the Soldier tried to get on top of him, Illya was using everything he got, this is life or death for everyone he knew and some people he will never know. They were both on the ground fighting each other, the Soldier took his knife out in one motion, Illya could dodge them easily but couldn’t the knife like he thought he could and even if he did, the Soldier had more of those. Kicks, punches and physical move that would hurt them, the Soldier stabbed his knife on the blonde one’s shoulder, close to his throat but not close enough, Illya took the knife out himself and the pain made him push his teeth, the pain was irresistible but still there, Illya knew it was the right time to open his mouth and speak. 

“You wouldn’t do this ten years ago!” the Soldier didn’t listen, “You’re not one of them!” his voice got higher, the angst in his voice was higher than the volume of his words. “You know me!” he kept screaming as punches and kicks came after one another, they held each other but neither stopped, Illya realised he wouldn’t think a second of letting him kill him if it’s what needed to be done to get him back. “You’re not owned by anyone, not KGB, not Hydra, no one!” he took a deep breath as The Soldier pushed on his wound, “You’re James!” his words came after one another, not apart from seconds, the action didn’t stop either, “Do it!” he groaned in pain, “Kill me if you like, they’ll be more like me to get what I meant to do.” his voice hit the Soldier’s brain hard, the Soldier stopped for less than a second and that was when Illya got one of the knives on him, stabbed it on the Soldier’s side, distraction, it could no way kill this super soldier but could distract him well. “Remember when you were the only one I got!” the Soldier was getting furious realising this was no other fight. “Look at me!” he shouted higher than before, more filled with anger and angst, “You see me.” Illya put his hand on the Soldier’s throat, choking was the first thing the Soldier taught him how to kill with it right. 

Illya pushed his fingers, on his throat with one hand, punched his face with other, they both were willing to hurt each other and Illya took no chances as the Soldier did. The goggles broke, he took them off as well as the mask, the Soldier’s face was bruised but knew well that it didn’t hurt but he was running out of breath, he tried to speak, “Steve.” he said, Illya was confused but he was not willing to stop, didn’t know who Steve was or what he was in the Soldier’s life. “Illya! I’m Illya!” he kept screaming, he needed to remind him himself no other man. “You are the reason I’m alive! Remember me!” Illya’s pain of the wound got more intense, his feelings did too, he was upset he wasn’t the one he remembered as he should’ve.” maybe he needed to make him remember Natalia, that was another way to do but he didn’t have much time, the Soldier was about to stop breathing, they would be saving Mr. Russo but Illya forgot about the Senator already .

“You, me, Natalia!” Illya cried, “You saved me! You need to remember.” the Soldier pushed himself to breathe as his eyes turned back to life, Illya couldn’t tell if he remembered, he couldn’t speak as they were close to being his last breaths. “Kuryakin.” the Soldier said, Illya’s eyes grew big, “Who am I? Tell me!” Illya needed to be sure, “The boy with pretty eyes and anger issues.” Illya kept going, “No longer a boy!” he released his hands slowly, wasn’t pushing as hard that could kill him but they were still touching his skin. “Tell me more!” he was still going on, no chances as he kept telling himself. Tears dropped from the Soldier’s eyes, “Natalia, get me to her!” he shouted as far as he could, Illya wasn’t relaxing yet, he knew he could still get away, he pushed on his neck once again, he still didn’t believe the Soldier was James again. He was bleeding crazy, the wound got a little numb and he chose to ignore it to get his mission done. Thankfully, footsteps were heard on the background, “Illya.” he heard Natalia get close, she pushed him and sat on top of the Soldier, saw Illya exhausted, from everything, he was still bleeding and it was getting worse. 

Illya had no thoughts, he was sobbing, had no idea how Natalia got there or if she was already there. His ears were ringing, he heard Natalia calling the Soldier ‘her love’ at the background and he saw her shoot a last look at him, as Natalia said “I will come back for you.” his vision blurred, the whole world was spinning around him, his eyes closed themselves, his body rolled him on his back from his side, his body got loose. Illya heard voices and words he couldn’t identify, he could sense that there were people gathered around him, had no idea who, he couldn’t even get his thoughts together to remember what happened moments before. Reality stopped for him in a second, the voices he heard and people he could sense were Napoleon and Gaby who weren’t quick enough to see Natalia disappear with the Soldier but was quick enough to find Illya. 

The words Illya couldn’t identify were Napoleon’s begs for him to stay with him, his declaration of love in between his sobs, what he couldn’t feel on his already numb body was Napoleon’s hands pushing on his wound, his hands covered with Illya’s blood. They had to be quick to get him out of there, get him somewhere safe, contact Waverly as soon as possible so Napoleon forced himself to carry Illya on the narrowest streets of Nice. Illya was hard to carry but nothing matter to Napoleon, he kept thinking about how Illya found him after the bombing, Napoleon remembered it all well but now Illya was in his arms, unconscious. Gaby was moving quick with solutions, contacted Waverly easily but as she did that, Napoleon felt like each second that had passed were hours. He was also blaming himself for reasons he didn’t even understand well, he was just trying to gather his thoughts in this mess and they all were about Illya. Napoleon felt hopeless even though he knew Illya would be okay, Gaby was more concerned about Napoleon breaking apart more than Illya, he was like she’s never seen him. 

Illya woke up after 12 very long hours in which Napoleon realised he was actually the “Protective boyfriend.” Natalia mentioned. His eyes opened slowly, the light hurt his eyes, he saw Napoleon holding his hand and looking at him with a hopeful smile and a red face Illya assumed he got from crying, “Are you going soft Cowboy?” he said softly. Illya wondered his eyes around the room, it was a simple room in a simple house, probably a safe house. Napoleon put his usual smirk on, “You’re incredibly hard to kill.” he said, Gaby thought he was being insensitive but this was how their connection worked, the serious talk never lasted long. Illya chuckled, put a shy smile as he turned his vision to Gaby standing right across him, “You okay?” Gaby asked Illya and he nodded as if he wished her to continue talking, “I think you already figured out that you’re in a safe house so I’ll leave you guys alone, I’ll be downstairs if you need me.” Gaby said directly to Illya and left without saying anything else, they expected Gaby to say some emotional stuff because how she was there the whole time with the American, she watched him break down over just how Illya was when they found him, was there when Napoleon ran over to Illya on the ground, just seeing him from far and assuming he was dead just seeing how pale he was, the pain in his eyes, they were always scared to lose each other and in different times they just assumed the other one was no longer breathing and even the thought of it was enough to get Napoleon to cry which seemed impossible until then. 

Napoleon watched Gaby leave the room before he focused his eyes back on the Russian, Illya opened his mouth like he was in a rush to say something the moment he got Napoleon’s attention back, he didn’t wait a second to say “First tell me if Natalia contacted you, then you can say anything you like.” Napoleon raised his eyebrows. “No.” he softly said and his mind slowly clicked that Illya still was somehow committed to the mission. Illya gripped Napoleon’s hand tight, he definitely had more to say or ask than Napoleon did, “The last thing I remember is that she told me that she would come back for me.” Illya was trying to be as open to Napoleon as he could be, this was as far as he could get because neither of them knew how to actually talk about their emotional baggage, they had too much of it at once yesterday morning. “I’ll try to get to her.” Napoleon said, Illya was curious how Napoleon was last night because him getting stabbed was nothing new but Napoleon finding him unconscious was, he knew there wouldn’t be a full conversation on it because in their job things like this passed by quick.

“We’ll get Gaby to handle that, I just wanted to thank you for fighting for me, even when you hated me.” Illya said, he never liked emotional speeches and Napoleon hated them so their own way of communicating was more easier than the usual way, “Thank you for being the best thing that happened to me ever but I will never say that again.” the both giggled a bit. “Help me leave the bed Cowboy.” Illya said, “I think you should rest a bit more.” Napoleon sounded concerned even though he acknowledged that he shouldn’t be ages ago. “Natalia was right.” Illya said trying to keep a serious tone, “You are my protective boyfriend.” he released himself and giggled, “But you still need no protection.” Napoleon stared into Illya’s eyes and Illya asked once more to get him out. “I’m not that injured, I lost some blood last night that’s all.” Illya said and he was actually right but Napoleon didn’t feel like that. They avoided any type of serious question they could talk alone as Gaby thoughts so. 

Napoleon helped him to sit first, then he got on his feet, had no problems but the usual headache and nausea after it all. Illya grabbed whatever stuff he had in the room and left with Napoleon even though he definitely didn’t approve. They left the room to a narrow corridor, they climbed down the stairs, saw Gaby sipping her tea with a newspaper on her lap, “I didn’t think you would be up so fast Illya.” Gaby said, “I feel like you only left the bed to ask for something.” both of the men nodded. “It’s about Natalia, has she reached you or the agency?” that was the only question that needed to be asked, Gaby put the tea and the newspaper on the coffee table and moved to the dinner table, she looked at the papers on the table and find the thing she was looking for. It was an envelope, a red envelope, easy to recognise and Illya’s name written in black ink, “I’m pretty sure this is from her, found it under the basket of flowers on the kitchen table.” Gaby continued, Napoleon reached for the envelope and took it but didn’t open. 

They all sat next to each other in the couch, Illya in the middle, they had no idea what was inside it, it could be anything including poison. Illya struggled with opening because of his wound but Gaby was already willing to do so. It was just an ordinary letter, Gaby held it in between his fingers and started reading it out loud.

“Dear Illya, Napoleon and Gaby,  
I just want to apologise from all three of you for even getting you into this mess, I already knew a mission hidden in another wouldn’t work, not necessarily with three agents but I knew Illya had to be a part of it. And now I have to talk straight to you my Illyushka, I’m sorry I had to push you into all those pain, you were always a part of James’ and my life until you got on your first official mission. I had nowhere to go but somehow come to you when I noticed James was in Hydra’s hands, you and him were the only consistent people in my life and I always saw you as a little brother, I still do. I was never good with letters so excuse me for even trying. Illya, you’re definitely wondering where we are and all of the details but remember to wait until I come back for you, both me and James will see you and hopefully Gaby and Napoleon when it’s time. Also Illya, hold onto the people in your life, I love you and when it’s the right time I will that to your face”

All three of them were smiling, this letter was really simple and didn’t say much, they didn’t even know why they were smiling. Illya had so many new things to think and probably have nightmares about, they all were introduced or re-introduced yesterday, he of course couldn’t see their effects yet but he was in no rush. Napoleon and Gaby were both thinking about how crazy it has been and how quickly they got hurt both emotionally and physically in that mess. They all exchanged looks, “I know we are all tired but this has been a literal mess and hell, since it’s over, can we get some food?” Napoleon said, it was totally random but was perfect for that exact moment. “Yeah and we should go to the beach before Waverly comes to us with a new mission.” Gaby said on the back of Napoleon’s, “Will we be able to go back to a new mission after all this?” Illya asked before he realised it was a dumb question, after Gaby and Napoleon’s judging looks he just said, “We’ve survived worse, let’s go eat.” Illya said which was the final shot. That day was over, so was the mission, even with the important pieces this mission left on them, they had to go on, they had a whole world to save.


End file.
